Gate Agent Shenanigans

 
Old Jun 19, 2010, 8:32 am
  #1  
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Gate Agent Shenanigans

June 17 Flight 86 ATL-FLL - I checked-in online at 24-hours. The next day when I got to the airport, I checked my bag with the Ticketing Agent and verified that I was first in line for Elite upgrade. The bad news - there's only one seat left in BC. So I go through security and proceed to the gate area, settle in and open up the online seating map on my smartphone. 1F is still available. Fingers crossed. At T-40 minutes, I approach the Gate Agent and ask about the upgrade. Very curtly she replies, "Business Class is full". I tell her that I've been watching the map and that 1F appears to be open. She snaps back, "Business Class is full" as if I didn't hear her the first time. Before I can say "but..." there also happens to be a FA standing behind her who butts in "she says Business Class is full".

Annoyed after being spoken to like a child, I walk around the corner to Customer Service (we were at C-20). This time, the Customer Service Agent took the time to investigate and said that the main screen showed BC as full but the specific seat assignment for 1F was open. "Must be a computer glitch but that seat should be available for you", he says, "I'll have to call over to the gate." Well of course he gets Ms. Attitude on the phone and she snaps at him "Business Class is full". Customer Service Agent apologizes and says he tried. So I go back to the gate, board my assigned seat in Coach and watch to see if BC fills. Once the aircraft door shuts, the lead FA (the one who butted in at the counter), approaches a uniformed crew member (pilot) seated two rows ahead of me, taps him on the shoulder and motions him forward. Non-rev upgraded, paying Elite screwed over. Needless to say, I was peeved.

So today I call AirTran Customer Relations and explained the entire story to them. The person I spoke with listened and was apologetic for the experience. She took some time to investigate and got back to me. She could not verify the non-revenue upgrade but as compensation for the experience, she automatically upgraded me for my return flight on Sunday. Don't know if I would have gotten the upgrade already (to date there are 11 seats available) but it was a nice gesture and saves me the hassle. She also made note of the need for training with the GA (pretty standard line, don't know if that actually happens).

So what do my fellow FTers think? Shouldn't there be a policy (if there isn't one already) stating that open BC seats assigned by the FAs should be given to Elites first? I've seen this done on DL several times where Medallions get pulled from coach and moved up to FC. Even uniformed military are given upgrades before employees. It shouldn't be too difficult to provide this information on the on-board manifest if it isn't already.

Last edited by plagwate; Jun 20, 2010 at 12:02 am
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Old Jun 19, 2010, 11:37 pm
  #2  
 
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Airtran still needs to do some more firming up of their upgrade policy for elites, to prevent these types of scenes from playing out. Perhaps increasing the fee to pay for upgrades would allow them to provide confirmed elite upgrades earlier than t-40 minutes and not affect revenues much.

Glad to hear that at least the telephone rep did something to mend the fence partly.
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Old Jun 20, 2010, 10:56 pm
  #3  
 
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better upgrade procedure needed

plagwate that is a horrible scenario. I am continually amazed that AirTran hasn't figured out a better way to deal with the logistics of handing out space available business upgrades. For example, both Delta and United have big flat screen TVs near most gates where cleared upgrades are posted for all to see. Plus, this is a huge waste of time and effort for GAs.

But getting back to your OP, the actions of the GA are indefensible. At the very least sending a hard copy of a letter to Customer Service is warranted, I would think.
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Old Jun 21, 2010, 7:22 pm
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Haha; you must have been flying Airtran!

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread started on "the Most Unpleasant Airtran GAs ...". Of course, it's a occupational hazard they get from dealing with all of us customers.
You were brighter than most, to try to enlist the aid of a Customer Service Agent; but they were clearly playing favorites. I bet if that pilot had known a paying customer wanted that seat, he would have graciously insisted that you have that seat. Pilots are smart like that.
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Old Jun 21, 2010, 7:37 pm
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Originally Posted by 4now
Haha; you must have been flying Airtran!

I'm surprised there hasn't been a thread started on "the Most Unpleasant Airtran GAs ...". Of course, it's a occupational hazard they get from dealing with all of us customers.
You were brighter than most, to try to enlist the aid of a Customer Service Agent; but they were clearly playing favorites. I bet if that pilot had known a paying customer wanted that seat, he would have graciously insisted that you have that seat. Pilots are smart like that.
The upgrade shenanigans are played on all of the airlines. Go over to the Delta Skymiles Forum and you'll see an ongoing string documenting this kind of gameplay. You know, the scenario of confronting the off-duty pilot and FA did cross my mind but in these days of crews wielding and abusing their FAA-granted authority, I thought it better not to risk being thrown off my flight. But I'm also a true believer in karma. When I got home from this weekend, I discovered that Delta had status-matched me to Silver Medallion. My Elite status on FL is already renewed for the year so I might give DL a try for these next few trips to see if I can maintain Medallion status there as well.

Last edited by plagwate; Jun 21, 2010 at 7:42 pm
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Old Jun 22, 2010, 1:41 pm
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I am late to the frequent flyer game; and still new to it..
I appreciate posts and threads like this, because they let me know how things really are.
I first made Elite status last year, just before my big vacation to Arizona. I understood that there was no guarantee that I could get an upgrade; but on my flight home I was there 40 minutes early to inquire. The GA claimed no knowledge of any such benefit to Elite passengers. She might have well as said,"Business Class is full."; because the result was the same...no seat up front for me.
I have actually received very little benefit from being an Elite. But. I expect to be leisure travelling alot through 2016,( assuming the world doesn't come to it's end in 2012. ). The stars are not in proper alignment in the heavens for me to be flying Delta right now; so I'll be doing a run before the end of the month, utilizing the B2B promotion to try to hold onto my Elite status for another year.
But, if it doesn't happen; I'll remind myself that what is important to me is really Airtran's on-time arrivals and the low price.
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Old Jun 23, 2010, 1:45 am
  #7  
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It's funny to read your story (not haha funny, missing upgrades is no laughing matter) because in 2005 the same thing happened to me, with the same redress.

I was flying America West PHX-LAS and was told First Class was full. After boarding, a uniformed pilot was moved up to an empty F seat. I wrote a letter when I got back to Phoenix and was automatically upgraded on a later PHX-LAX flight. Still annoying for both of us though
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Old Jun 23, 2010, 9:49 am
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Originally Posted by plagwate
So I go through security and proceed to the gate area, settle in and open up the online seating map on my smartphone. 1F is still available.
Not sure how it works on FL.

But sometimes on UA, the seat map isn't indicative of the number of available seats.

There are some cases where someone is cleared for an upgrade (or holds an F ticket) but has no seat assigned (so the seat appears open on the seat map). This is true even if there is only one seat left.

I've had it happen where my upgrade clears, but no seat is assigned (even though there is only one seat left to select). You'd think that if there was one seat left, it would automatically assign you that seat.
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Old Jun 23, 2010, 12:54 pm
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Originally Posted by plagwate
there also happens to be a FA standing behind her who butts in "she says Business Class is full".
Very rude but unfortunately not uncommon in the "service" industry in the US.
You're the enemy if you're a customer who actually wants something.
Remember, they have to look out for their "buddies" first, then come the paying public.
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Old Jun 25, 2010, 8:11 am
  #10  
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This happens quite often - I've had it happen to me at least 3 times that I know of. It is not just pilots who get this benefit - other flight attendants or friends of the cabin crew also get moved up to business after the door closes on flights in which "business is full" but the door closes with empty seats.

Search back a few years and you may find the thread about FL flight crews treating the business class seating area as the "crew personal transportation" section of the plane. One issue that has improved is the crew filling up the overhead bins in business with their own luggage. At least now they move their stuff back to be over row 10 and 11.

I've got mixed thoughts on this issue. Yeah, I'm an Airtran elite, and I sure do like the free upgrades, few and far between as they may be, and by FL policy, I'm entitled to the upgrade if there is an empty seat. But I figure I'm not flying nearly as much as the crew does. I'm not guaranteed an upgrade, and I'm not opposed to an employer providing their employees with a perk once in awhile. The problem is, it is not Airtran providing these crew members with an extra perk, it is the GA taking it upon themselves to circumvent policy, for which I don't have much tolerance.

One thing that would help me get over this easy would be if Airtran recognized Elites sitting in steerage (coach) and offered them an upgraded snack and/or free drink. I know that may be impossible as it might create more problems than it solves (although United FA's almost always recognized those in coach with status and frequently offered free drinks. Getting an upgrade "bumped" so a non-rev or FA friend can sit in the "empty" Business class seat bothers me most when I'm on a 3 hour flight, getting very hungry and know that if I were in Business I would at least be entitled to a snack and a free drink.
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Old Jun 26, 2010, 7:10 am
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Mixed feelings. As an Elite, I feel they have now put some kind of structure in place where before there was none.

But to match up with the Elite procedures they now have, the employee upgrade system is still the wild west. To fix it, they need the computer set up to take in the employee requests, put them in order according to whatever rules they want, and blend them in with the Elites.

I also agree that the culture at AirTran is always bringing employees forward--there is no bringing forward of Elites as you sometimes see on Delta.

I do think it is a policy at AirTran to crack down on the OP's kind of incidents -- making the report was the right thing to do. I have had gate agents at various cities tell me stories of close scrutiny about how they do the upgrades.
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